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Data watchdogs did not want to see eBay bank server

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The man who paid £35 for a server stuffed full of Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest customer details has been left less than impressed with the reaction of UK data regulators.

Andrew Chapman's story hit the news after he bought a server on eBay which contained over a million customer details including full account details, mothers' maiden names, addresses and even scans of signatures. But neither the Financial Services Authority nor the Information Commissioner's Office contacted Chapman when he went public with what he found inside the machine.

Chapman said he phoned the Information Commissioner Office's head of investigations and offered him the machine. Instead he was told to return it to Graphic Data.

Chapman, an IT manager from Oxford, told the Reg: "I don't really see how either the FSA or ICO can ascertain what happened by relying on Graphic Data. It is a nonsense to ask companies to self-report." He said he was told the ICO had no power to seize equipment - although that clearly would not have been necessary in this case.

The ICO has asked the government for stronger investigatory powers and more powers to punish offenders.

We asked the ICO about this and were told that since it knew what information was on the machine, nothing useful could be learnt from it. The ICO is working with RBS and archiving firm Graphic Data to find out how the machine went astray. ®